John McTiernan was mostly cool with his prison stint; eager to make another movie

John McTiernan, who served a nearly one-year prison sentence in 2013-2014 for perjury and lying to an FBI investigator – both related to his ties to infamous private investigator Anthony Pellicano, who McTiernan hired to wiretap Rollerball producer Charles Roven – had no problem with his stint in the big house. He even suggested it made him feel young again.

More than a decade after he began his stay in prison, John McTiernan turned up at Switzerland’s Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival to, yes, serve on the jury. As it turns out, the prison was relatively normal for and lenient with many of its inmates, except for one notable aspect that seems directly out of a ‘70s exploitation flick. “The only thing that was a little weird was that the locals, if they saw you on a crosswalk, would speed up and try to hit you.” How many points would a former box office champ be worth?

But while prison may have been a loose experience for John McTiernan, he also shared his disgust for how minorities are treated. After speaking with hundreds of inmates, he found a clear disparity. “Their stories were amazing, just sickening and shocking. The war on drugs in the United States is really just [racist] Jim Crow [law].” He hopes to publish his discussions as a book.

Regarding other creative endeavors, John McTiernan said that now that he has been out of prison for a number of years, he’s ready for his next movie, previously remarking that a return to directing was imminent and that he would helm Taut Ceci Foxtrot, a sci-fi actioner that would mark his first picture since 2003’s Basic.

John McTiernan – who became synonymous with the action genre in the ‘80s and ‘90s with movies like Predator, Die Hard and the insanely underrated Last Action Hero – also noted that a number of his former collaborators have remained supportive following his prison stay, including Alec Baldwin, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, saying, quite heartbreakingly, “He knows I am a friend but he doesn’t know why.”

What do you hope to see from John McTiernan in the future? What is your favorite movie of his? Let us know below!